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Saturday, July 4, 2015

Going Home

Going back to Philly this year was
a little more special this year than it has ever been for me. After moving all
the way across the country to Boulder, this was the first time I would be
coming home. I got to spend a couple days at home eating some home-cooked meals
before the race. About a week before the race, I was feeling better than ever,
but in the few days before the race I seemed to be coming down with a nasty
cold and I was having some injury issues in my foot, but I think being at home
was enough of a boost to get past all of that.

We got a lot of rain coming in the
few days before the race, so the swim was cancelled for the entire weekend. In
the past, my swim has been a bit of a weakness for me, but I have been feeling
pretty confident in it lately, so I felt that it didn’t help or hurt me too
much either way. I was also very confident in my bike and run, so I knew I
would race well either way. With the removal of the swim, the race organizers
decided to do a time trial start on the bike. We were going to be sent off in
20-25 second increments. This made the race interesting since you could never
really tell for sure what position you were really in unless you knew exact
time gaps off the line which would be impossible. It was a little different,
but it made a true, honest non-draft race.

My plan going in was to go full gas
on the bike and see what I could limit the time gap to back from Cam. From the
time I crossed the mat to start I really went for it. The Philly bike course is
a very challenging one, with some steep climbs and then technical
descents. The rain made a few of those
spots a little hairy and it was very important to stay under control. Staying
on the bike is always faster than taking a tumble. I felt like I rode the
hardest I ever had for a 40k. The time wouldn’t reflect it because of the
weather, but I know it was a big improvement over my ride from last year. I
came in and heard I had lost a little over 2 minutes on the bike. This was
about the time gap I had figured, so I knew if I had a great run I could make
up the ground.

Heading out on the run, my legs
felt a little heavy. I was still moving very fast, but I knew I would probably
need to hold about 3:06-3:08/k to make up the ground. I tried as hard as I
could, but I soon started to feel some cramping coming on. I knew if I tried to
pick up the pace that I would be walking it in. I still ran about 31:40, but
not quite what I needed. The very hard bike took a little too much out of me,
but had I biked easier then I would have just been further behind, so it is a
little bit of give and take. I think I executed my race plan well and couldn’t
have asked for too much more. Coming home 2nd was great, but losing
by 26 seconds is never easy. It makes you really look at every point in the
race and find where you may have been able to make up that time. There were
certainly some things I could have done better, but at the end of the day, I
need to be happy with my performance. A 2nd place finish at my home
race is a pretty great thing. It is more continued success that makes me hungry
for more and proud of the work that I have been putting in. It has been a great
season thus far, and I hope to continue to improve and get even faster as the
year goes on.

Coming home was a really great break
from everything for me. I have to thank my Mom and Dad for always supporting me
out there. I couldn’t do it without them, so to get to race in front of them is
more and more special every chance I get. Those are the moments that you
remember for a long time.